Random Reviews:

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Min Me Corner is a post I created here on the blog, it's a place where I
can showcase Children's books that I have read with my kids. This week
we have another great Scholastic book to share with you.

When Little Red's Granny Putt Putt gets sick, the tiny moped scooter races over the river and through the dark woods to bring her a basket of get-well goodies.
But when Little Red crosses paths with Tank, the biggest, loudest, meanest machine around, that no-good monster truck has plans of his own.
Why, Granny, what big wheels you have!
Why, Granny, what big headlights you have!
Why, Granny, what a big hood you have!
From the sparkplug, creative minds of Peter Stein and Chris Gall comes a full-throttle version of the classic LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD tale that will have everyone revving for more.

Little Red's Riding' Hood is one of the cutest retellings of Little Red Riding Hood that I have ever seen. It's also one of the best I've seen geared toward little boys. Usually all I see if the story being told and geared toward little girls. I'm loving all the retellings that I've been saying lately and it's always great to get another take on a story we've all heard a thousand times.

My son loved this book so much that I had to re-read it several times to him and the best thing about it is the words are easy enough for the younger children to understand and follow along. But it's not so easy that they lose interest in the story itself.

Next I want to mention the illustrations in this adorable little book, Chris Gall did an amazing job with the pictures that grabbed my son's attention so much that he likes to go back and just look at the pictures of Little Red out running Tank. I loved all the colors! Oh and I must talk for a second about this cover, when Scholastic sends me books I usually get a few in the box. When I opened this box, my son gravitated to this book and went digging for it. As soon as it was in his hands, he begged me to read it to him. That says a lot about the cover design.

All in all Little Red's Riding' Hood is a great book for that little boy you want to love books.

Well my son says my rating system needs to go higher than 5 Puppies because this book is a 10 according to him. So, you know what I'm about to say.

I want to thank Scholastic Press for sending us this book for review and
thank them for continuing to put out quality Children's books!

Monday, April 27, 2015

Alright, this week it's going to be a slow week, so here is the main book I'm going to be reading, well finishing this week.

What I'm Reading Today!

The Queen of the Tearling

Author: Erika Johansen

Publisher: Harper

On her nineteenth birthday, Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, raised in exile, sets out on a perilous journey back to the castle of her birth to ascend her rightful throne. Plain and serious, a girl who loves books and learning, Kelsea bears little resemblance to her mother, the vain and frivolous Queen Elyssa. But though she may be inexperienced and sheltered, Kelsea is not defenseless: Around her neck hangs the Tearling sapphire, a jewel of immense magical power; and accompanying her is the Queen’s Guard, a cadre of brave knights led by the enigmatic and dedicated Lazarus. Kelsea will need them all to survive a cabal of enemies who will use every weapon—from crimson-caped assassins to the darkest blood magic—to prevent her from wearing the crown. Despite her royal blood, Kelsea feels like nothing so much as an insecure girl, a child called upon to lead a people and a kingdom about which she knows almost nothing. But what she discovers in the capital will change everything, confronting her with horrors she never imagined. An act of singular daring will throw Kelsea’s kingdom into tumult, unleashing the vengeance of the tyrannical ruler of neighboring Mortmesne: the Red Queen, a sorceress possessed of the darkest magic. Now Kelsea will begin to discover whom among the servants, aristocracy, and her own guard she can trust. But the quest to save her kingdom and meet her destiny has only just begun—a wondrous journey of self-discovery and a trial by fire that will make her a legend…if she can survive. The Queen of the Tearling introduces readers to a world as fully imagined and terrifying as that of The Hunger Games, with characters as vivid and intriguing as those of The Game of Thrones, and a wholly original heroine. Combining thrilling action and twisting plot turns, it is a magnificent debut from the talented Erika Johansen.

If I can read more you all know I will. Hope you all have a great Monday!

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

It's time for another discussion post and this time it's a topic I've been seeing a lot about on Facebook recently. Authors getting upset about the amount of review copies being sent out and bloggers/reviewers not posting the review in what they see as a timely manor. So I wanted to do a discussion about this topic and hopefully get some of you talking about it in the comments.

Alright, so let's start with the main question, I try to review as many books as I can. That's the easiest answer I can give. When I first started this blog, I was killing myself reviewing every single book I got for review. That means from Netgalley, in the mai1, and even books that I hadn't asked for. After awhile it made me start to feel like reading was a job and it took all the fun out of it for me. That's not how I want to feel about reading, so I changed my rules a bit and started to keep track of every book that came into my house, the ones I bought, ones I requested, and the ones that I didn't request. It took a bit to get it all organized, (between me and you it's still not perfect.) but now I only review the books that I asked for personally.

Now let's get down to the tricky part, do I review all of those books, I'm talking about all the ones I have requested. Again the words are I try! It might take me awhile, but I do try to get a review up at some point. Blogging/Reviewing is a hobby for me, it's not my job, so therefore I read on my own time and I review on my own time. I don't think it's okay for authors to put a stipulation on a reviewer telling them when to read their book and when to have the review posted. (Again I'm not talking about blog tours here, that's a whole different story.)

The main reason I wanted to do this post so much is because the other day I saw an author go on this huge rant about sending out all these review copies and getting one or two reviews and that's it. Authors, what you really need to realize is this, blogging/reviewing is to most of us, just a hobby. We don't get paid for our reviews. So please, stop getting upset when we don't have a review up, in what you see as an appropriate time frame. I have about 50 authors offering me review copies in my inbox every single day, I don't accept most of them, but some of them I do. It just takes time for me to review some of the books.

Also in my review policy it states that I don't review all books that I get for review, but sometimes I still highlight those books in one way or another on my blog. I could honestly continue to go on and on about this subject, but I think I'm going to stop here and see what you think.

Leave me a comment below and let me know if you review all books you receive, if so how in the world do you do it? If not, what made you decide to make this your policy? Do you think it's okay for authors to be upset about reviews or pressure bloggers about their review?

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Min Me Corner is a post I created here on the blog, it's a place where I
can showcase Children's books that I have read with my kids. This week
we have one that Scholastic sent to us that my daughter fell in love with.

Princesses Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Rapunzel swap fairy tales with one another in this hilariously clever new classic!
Once upon a time, four fairy tale misses,
tired of dwarves, witches, princes, and kisses,
so bored and fed up, or just ready to flop,
upped and left home for a fairy tale swap.
What happens when Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Rapunzel get so fed up with their fairy tales that they decide to switch places with one another? Hilarity ensues in this clever, rhyming story about whether the grass really is greener at someone else's castle.
Author Stephanie Clarkson crafts an incredibly witty manuscript, with rhymes that shine and predicaments that will make little girls everywhere laugh out loud, as illustrator Brigette Barrager brings these beautiful princesses to life with her rich, warm colors and charming retro-girl style!

Like I said above this book is one that I wasn't sure my daughter would love, but she ended up reading it a few times and loves it. Here lately, she hasn't wanted to read the books for younger children, she's more into the chapter books or middle grade books. So I was happy when I received this one from Scholastic and she loved it.

The best part about this book is that I enjoyed reading it with her. It's a cute look at what the life's of the princesses could have been if they didn't live in a tower or eat that apple. I loved how they connected each princess and their story. Sleeping Cinderella is an adorable retelling and it's a great starting point for my upcoming Retellings week that I'm planning here on the blog.

The illustrations are also adorable and I couldn't stop laughing as my daughter laughed at the dwarfs and how Snow White just up and left them because they were way to messy. Authors Stephanie Clarkson and Bridgette Barrager did a fabulous job with this one and I can't wait to read more children's books written by these two.

Sleeping Cinderella deserves this rating of...

I want to thank Scholastic Press for sending us this book for review and thank them for continuing to put out quality Children's books!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE
CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share
doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for
others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser.

"Go and say good-bye to the woods, girl. It'll likely be a long time before they'll let you wander at will again." Kelsea had gone then, and spent the morning roaming the forest, climbing over fallen trees and stopping every now and again to listen to the stillness of the woods, that perfect silence so at odds with the abundance of life it contained.

I'm going crazy over this book already, it was one that I had heard so many amazing things about, that I just had to have it the other day, when I went to the bookstore. It's one of those books that once you finally have it in your hands that you just want to start right away.

Do you have a book like this, one that you picked up and just had to read right away? If so care to leave me a teaser below in the comments? If you post your own teaser Tuesday post, please leave me a comment below so I can read your post as well.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Alright, this week I'm going to try to read at least 3 books. Yikes, let's see if I can actually do it.

What I'm Reading Today!

The Queen of the Tearling

Author: Erika Johansen

Publisher: Harper

On her nineteenth birthday, Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, raised in exile, sets out on a perilous journey back to the castle of her birth to ascend her rightful throne. Plain and serious, a girl who loves books and learning, Kelsea bears little resemblance to her mother, the vain and frivolous Queen Elyssa. But though she may be inexperienced and sheltered, Kelsea is not defenseless: Around her neck hangs the Tearling sapphire, a jewel of immense magical power; and accompanying her is the Queen’s Guard, a cadre of brave knights led by the enigmatic and dedicated Lazarus. Kelsea will need them all to survive a cabal of enemies who will use every weapon—from crimson-caped assassins to the darkest blood magic—to prevent her from wearing the crown.
Despite her royal blood, Kelsea feels like nothing so much as an insecure girl, a child called upon to lead a people and a kingdom about which she knows almost nothing. But what she discovers in the capital will change everything, confronting her with horrors she never imagined. An act of singular daring will throw Kelsea’s kingdom into tumult, unleashing the vengeance of the tyrannical ruler of neighboring Mortmesne: the Red Queen, a sorceress possessed of the darkest magic. Now Kelsea will begin to discover whom among the servants, aristocracy, and her own guard she can trust.
But the quest to save her kingdom and meet her destiny has only just begun—a wondrous journey of self-discovery and a trial by fire that will make her a legend…if she can survive.
The Queen of the Tearling introduces readers to a world as fully imagined and terrifying as that of The Hunger Games, with characters as vivid and intriguing as those of The Game of Thrones, and a wholly original heroine. Combining thrilling action and twisting plot turns, it is a magnificent debut from the talented Erika Johansen.

What I'll Be Reading This Week:

Wait for the Rain

Author: Maria Murnane

Publisher:Lake Union Publishing

Daphne White is staring down the barrel of forty—and is distraught at what she sees. Her ex-husband is getting remarried, her teenage daughter hardly needs her anymore, and the career she once dreamed about has somehow slipped from her grasp. She’s almost lost sight of the spirited and optimistic young woman she used to be.
As she heads off to a Caribbean island to mark the new decade with her best friends from college, Daphne’s in anything but the mood to celebrate. But when she meets Clay Hanson, a much younger man, she ignores her inner voice warning her that she’s too old for a fling. In fact, this tropical getaway might be the perfect opportunity to picture her future in a new sun-drenched light.
With the help of her friends, Daphne rediscovers her enthusiasm for life, as well as her love for herself—and realizes that her best years are still ahead.

Going to Try to Read This Week:

(If not it will be moved to next week!)

Dorothy Must Die

Author: Danielle Paige

Publisher: Harper Collins

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.
But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado - taking you with it - you have no choice but to go along, you know?
Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little bluebirds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still a yellow brick road - but even that's crumbling.
What happened? Dorothy.
They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.
My name is Amy Gumm - and I'm the other girl from Kansas.
I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.
I've been trained to fight.
And I have a mission.

Alright so there you have it, my list of books for this week. I haven't read three books in one week in a long time, so we shall see if I can. If not Dorothy Must Die will be added to my list for next week.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

So it's been a few weeks since I posted my last Sunday Post so I wanted to give a little update as to what I've been up to. I've been pretty busy lately with work and the blog actually. Trying to get this blog back to posting more than one to two days a week is taking a bit of time, but I'm loving getting back to blogging again. This weeks been a great one and I hope you are all enjoying the new types of posts.

TV Shows and movies recaps and reviews are just a few of the things I'm going to be adding to the blog in the coming weeks. I'm also opening the blog up to some product reviews as well. But anyway, I hope you all had a good week and weekend. I know I have!

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Book Vs. Movie is something that I like to post every now and then when I see a movie and I've also read the book. I haven't posted one of these posts in awhile and since I just saw Insurgent, it made me think of sharing my thoughts with you.

The Book:

I was super excited to read Insurgent and like a lot of sequels, I didn't like it as much as I loved the first book in the Divergent series. This happens to me a lot and honestly I would love to find a series that I love all the books and not just the first and the last. To me, Insurgent felt more like a filler story than a great book. There was a great chance to make the second book in the series a great one, I just felt like that ball was dropped. I'm not saying I hated it or that I hated the series, honestly I liked the book, just not as much as I loved the first one.

I love Veronica's writing style though and will continue to read her books. I must also say I love seeing her in person, she's great with her fans and I hope she comes back to my area.

The Movie:

Even though I didn't like the book as much as the first, I was really excited to see the movie. Not as

excited as my mom, but still excited to see if they could pull it off. What must be said right away is that I loved the movie more than the book. Here lately that has been happening more and more as they start to actually get the movies closer to the books. It was great seeing it all come to life and seeing Tris and Four get closer. I love them together and love seeing the cast on the big screen.

I did however have a few problems with the movie. One of which has to do with casting. I didn't like who they cast for Johanna, I love that actress, but not in this role. The sets where freaking amazing though and well let's just say those things made me forget about the small things.

I'm trying really hard not to give any spoilers, but there is this one part where I seriously mumble Yes do it again. I wanted to be Tris in that part and kick this one persons ass and he was the one character I loved to hate and I'm pretty sure there are others that feel the same way about this one. The rest of the casting is perfection for these movies.

I'm going to stop here though so I don't start saying and spoiling parts of the movie for the ones that haven't watched them. All in all the movie is way better than the book, at least for me that is. The book I would give a 3 puppies to but the movie I would give a 5!

So it's time for yet another recap, I'm trying to get caught up with the episodes so I can post correctly. Let's talk about episode three, It starts off with drugs and alcohol yet again, but this time add a sword in there and the decision to give Liam some time to see what he can do for the monarchy. Oh and we must not forget to mention sex, that's always a part of this show. Not that I'm complaining one little bit.

I'm trying really hard not to give much away, but seeing as this is more of a recap I have to give some away. Really enjoyed the part where Ophelia and the Princess is tying to find more about Jasper now. A great team up between the two. I just hope they find out more about him. He's another character I love to hate.

A lot happens in this episode, from a car accident that the prince ends up getting punch in to two fashion shows that the queen thinks she's helping the princess with. This episode is by far one of my favorites so far. I just wish I could call bagsy on Prince Liam!

It was also way to hard to pick a favorite line out of this episode, there were way to many that I loved. One of which said I win on the princess herself. Yep I said on! Seriously, if you haven't watched this show yet, you should head over and watch it as soon as you can. An all new episode will air this Sunday!